Flashback: Photos of Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Other Oscar 2012 Nominees the First Time They Were Nominated

Many of the nominees at this Sunday's 2012 Academy Awards have been down this road before! Meryl Streep, for instance, has been nominated a whopping 17 times. And if you think that's impressive, Woody Allen has received 23 nods. Here are some of the honorees who have a past relationship with Oscar--along with photos of them their first time around...

Glenn Close: Up for her role in Albert Nobbs, this is Glenn's sixth Oscar nomination. Her first was back in 1983 for The World According to Garp, but she lost to Jessica Lange. At that year's ceremony, she had a Princess Diana look going on, which makes sense for the time. Will 2012 finally be Glenn's year? We'll soon see...

Brad Pitt: The nomination for Moneyball brings his total to three. He has not yet won--and this likely won't be his year. (Poor Brad! Too many talented guys in his category.) The first time Brad was nominated was in 1996 for his supporting role in Twelve Monkeys. On his arm that night was his then-fiancee Gwyneth Paltrow. See more vintage photos of Brad (and partner Angelina Jolie!) at the Oscars over the years.

Michelle Willams: This is the third Academy Award nomination for the My Week with Marilyn star, who has not yet won the big prize. (No worries there--she's only 31.) Her first nomination came in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain--and here she is on the red carpet with Heath Ledger that year. It's funny--whenever I picture the actress in my mind, this is the photo I always think of. She looked so beautiful--that canary yellow dress was amazing--and happy.

Nick Nolte: His role in Warrior earned the actor a nod this year--that makes his total three nominations overall. His first came back in 1992 for his part in Prince of Tides. So basically his first time was 20 years (and one Santa beard) ago.

Woody Allen: Although the Midnight in Paris director has so been nominated so many times, and has won three awards (the first two in 1978 for Annie Hall), he never actually attends the ceremony. I shouldn't say never--the one exception was following 9/11 when he showed up at the ceremony in 2002 (pictured) unannounced and made a plea for filmmakers to continue shooting in New York City.

Meryl Streep: The Iron Lady star has won two Oscars in the 17 times that she's been nominated over the years. The first was in 1979 for The Deer Hunter--and she looked stunning at the ceremony. She really hasn't changed that much, has she?

Kenneth Branagh: A four-time nominee, Kenneth has yet to bring home Oscar. The My Week with Marilyn star was nominated for the first time back in 1990 for his work in Henry V.

Viola Davis:This is the second time The Help star has been invited to the big dance. In 2009, she was nominated for Doubt and looked amazing coordinated with Oscar in gold. Can't wait to see what she wears this year.

George Clooney: Since George made the jump from TV to movies in 1999, his career exploded. He's received six nominations in total and won in 2006--the first year he was ever nominated--for his supporting role in Syriana. This year's nod comes from his part in The Descendants. This is old hat to George by now!

Christopher Plummer: He's been entertaining the world since the 1950s--with The Sound of Music hitting theaters in 1965--but he didn't get his first Oscar nomination until 2010 for The Last Station. Now, just two years later, he is up for his role in Beginners and is considered the sentimental favorite. Since 2010 is like a minute ago, here's a pic of the actor back in his Sound of Music days...and then now.